Vestaria Saga II - Review @ RPGFan

RPGFan reviewed the Strategy RPG  Vestaria Saga II: The Sacred Sword of Silvanister:

Vestaria Saga II: The Sacred Sword of Silvanister

Got the itch for more Fire Emblem? Vestaria Saga is the project of Shouzou Kaga, the creator of the original game in Nintendo’s flagship strategy RPG series. War of the Scions was the first part of this planned trilogy, and we now have the official second part: Vestaria Saga II: The Sacred Sword of Silvanister. Fire Emblem fans will find a game that feels familiar but different as Kaga has added some new twists to the formula for those up to the challenge.

Vestaria Saga II follows the continuing story of young military prodigy Zade (short for Zadrian), who is on another adventure after upending the Solvian Empire in part one. Now, he’s had a falling out with his brother, Zech (short for Zecharias), a fellow military commander, and Zade strikes out on his own, looking for someone to help with his sword. Unfortunately, while the story is set up as a sweeping quest of political intrigue and personal conflict, the main narrative loses its way almost immediately. What, at first glance, starts as a classic tale of sibling rivalry takes an abrupt turn into something less compelling and coherent. The overall plot melts into a jumble of names, places, and groups of people you’ll never cross. You also fight many antagonists with little setup or foreshadowing and generally spend too much time far away from Zade’s main conflict, which also becomes hazy. While playing Vestaria Saga I may benefit players new to the series, you won’t miss anything vital by starting with Vestaria Saga II.

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Ultimately, Vestaria Saga II, much like the first game, is a collection of cool, innovative, smart concepts and well-developed characters strung together haphazardly by a largely incomprehensible story. The brutal difficulty is in no way for everybody, but if you want an intense tactical challenge, this is still a good vehicle for it. If you’ve had your fill of Fire Emblem and want more, the Vestaria Saga series is an appropriate next step. But hurry up, Zade has towns on the other side of the world to save!

Score: 75/100